Veteran GOP consultant says defeating Workman a 'hobby for me'

TALLAHASSEE — A group attacking the state Senate campaign of Rep. Ritch Workman is funded by committees that use a veteran GOP consultant who describes defeating the Brevard County Republican as a “hobby,” and has funding tied to two prominent state senators, one of whom says he is not involved with the effort.

Workman is running in state Senate District 17 in an expensive, hard-nosed primary against fellow Republican Rep. Debbie Mayfield. It has been a costly special-interest fueled slug fest, with both sides funding attacks on the other.

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A political committee called Stop Career Politicians has been alleging that Workman has used his post to help political donors, promoted his claims on education reform, and raised questions about using political committee funds for personal travel. Each time, the Workman camp has pushed back, calling the attacks dirty politics.

Workman said that the Mayfield camp has used a series of political committees to move money around to hide who is actually funding the attacks.

“The Mayfield campaign has gone through great lengths to hide where the money is coming from,” he said.

Erin Isaac, a spokeswoman for the committee, said Workman's claim of dirty politics is “hypocrisy.” She points to a website called MayfieldFacts.com, which highlights several negative Mayfield media reports. It is funded by Accomplished Conservative Leaders Fund, a political committee funded almost entirely by a separate Workman-controlled committee.

Mayfield no longer has a candidate-aligned political committee. Her campaign has been largely funded by a $400,000 personal loan.

Stop Career Politicians, the site attacking Workman, received $135,000 of its overall $160,000 contributions from Citizens First, a separate committee that uses Randy Nielsen, a partner in the firm Public Concepts for much of its advertising and consulting work. A committee controlled by Galvano — Innovate Florida — gave $100,000 of the total $275,000 Citizens First raised during 2016.

Another $100,000 came from two separate political committees that use Nielsen as a consultant and Galvano largely supports financially. They are the Free Speech PAC, which the future Senate president gave $150,000 of its $155,500 in total 2016 contributions, and Taxpayers in Action, which received $150,000 of its total $230,000 contributions in 2016 from Galvano.

Galvano, who serves as Senate majority leader, says he is not trying to influence the Republican primary, and that he gave to those committees because he knows they are philosophically aligned with him. But he said he’s not exactly sure how they spent the $435,000 in total contributions he gave the three committees.

“The bottom line is I’ve not endorsed in that race, and those dollars in that committee [Citizens First] — I don’t control them,” he said.

Galvano said he sometimes gives contributions to political committees based on the advice of others.

"There are a variety of reasons, you know, I have consultants that I work with who make recommendations about this stuff, so that's why I give to this committee and others," he said.

Nielson backed him up, saying that Galvano is not involved with the day-to-day operations or strategy of the committees, so he likely had no idea Citizens First was involved in the Workman-Mayfield primary.

“I bet Galvano did not know that the committee [Citizens First] had given the money [to Stop Career Politicians] when you talked to him,” Nielsen said.

Another $25,000 for the anti-Workman committee came from a political committee controlled by Sen. Tom Lee. He and Workman have publicly battled in the past, including over controversial alimony reform legislation.

“He has definitely said some things in the past that I think are unbecoming, but this isn’t about that,” Lee said. “She [Mayfield] asked for help and, frankly, I like her politics. She’s kind of a maverick, a free agent.”

Nielsen has done consulting work for both Mayfield and Galvano in the past. He says defeating Workman has become a “hobby for me.” He says that Workman has abused his own political committee, including taking trips to the Kentucky Derby without raising any money for the committee.

“He has become the poster child for that sort of abuse,” Nielsen says.

Workman has pushed back against the idea, saying that he “raised more than he spent” at the Kentucky Derby fundraiser, and that checks tied to a political fundraiser are sometimes received before or after the actual event.

“I was there, that is correct,” said lobbyist Brady Benford, who attended the fundraiser. “We had talked about the event and I committed some money, but did not have it at the time. I delivered it late, and I’m sure others in attendance did the same.”

Benford, who works in the Tallahassee office of Ballard Partners, said he raised $25,000 for Workman. He said between six and eight people were also in attendance at the derby fundraiser.